Wagering game terminals, such as slot machines, video poker machines, and the like, have been a cornerstone of the gaming industry for several years. Generally, the popularity of such terminals among players depends on the perceived likelihood of winning money at the terminal and the intrinsic entertainment value of the terminal relative to other available gaming options. Where the available gaming options include a number of competing terminals and the expectation of winning each terminal is roughly the same (or believed to be the same), players are most likely to be attracted to the more entertaining and exciting terminal. Consequently, wagering game terminal operators strive to employ the most entertaining and exciting terminals available because such terminals attract frequent play and, hence, increase profitability for the operators. Thus, in the highly competitive wagering game terminal industry, there is a continuing need to develop new types of games, or improvements to existing games, that will enhance the entertainment value and excitement associated with the games.
One concept that has been successfully employed in existing wagering game terminals to enhance player entertainment is a secondary or “bonus” game played in conjunction with a “basic” game. The bonus game may include any type of game, either similar to or entirely different from the basic game, and is initiated by the occurrence of certain pre-selected events or outcomes in the basic game. The addition of such a bonus game has been found to produce a significantly higher level of player excitement than the basic game alone because it provides an additional chance to play, which increases the player's overall expectation of winning.
Another concept that is often employed in the gaming industry is the use of progressive games. A “progressive” game involves collecting coin-in data from participating wagering game terminals (e.g., slot machines), contributing a percentage of that coin-in to a progressive jackpot amount, and awarding that jackpot amount to a player upon the occurrence of a certain jackpot-won event. A jackpot-won event typically occurs when a “progressive winning position” is achieved at a participating wagering game terminal. If the wagering game terminal is a slot machine, a progressive winning position may, for example, correspond to alignment of progressive jackpot reel symbols along a certain payline. The initial progressive jackpot is a predetermined minimum amount. That jackpot amount, however, progressively increases as players continue to play the wagering game terminals without winning the jackpot. Further, when several wagering game terminals are linked together such that several players compete for the same jackpot, the jackpot progressively increases at a much faster rate, which leads to further player excitement.
Progressive jackpots create a type of dynamic award pool in which the size of the award varies depending on the number of wagering game terminals contributing to the pool, the time the pool has been accumulating, and the credit amounts contributed. The progressive award pool, however, is generally funded by siphoning a fixed percentage of the total coin-in from each participating wagering game terminal. Thus, the funds going into the progressive pool are not accounted for in the same way as the funds going into the pay tables of the basic game. As a result, a progressive payout effectively represents a reduction in the casino operator's profit. Many operators compensate for this reduction in profit by lowering the payout percentage of the basic game in participating wagering game terminals. The decreased payout percentage, however, may reduce the enjoyment and excitement of the gaming experience for some players.
Accordingly, what is needed is a wagering game terminal that provides increased enjoyment and excitement over existing wagering game terminals. More specifically, what is needed is a way of creating dynamic award pools where no siphoning of a percentage of the total coin-in from participating wagering game terminals is required.